The Stage Manager Is a Man of Many Roles
The Stage Manager is a man of many roles. Usually a stage
manager is part of the non-acting staff and in complete charge of
the bodily aspects of the production. In Thornton Wilder's Our
Town, the Stage Manager goes well beyond his usual function in a
play and undertakes a large role as a performer. In Our Town the
Stage Manager is a narrator, moderator, philosopher, and an actor.
Through these roles the Stage Manager is able to communicate the
theme of universality in the play.
The main role of the Stage Manager is that of narrator and
moderator. He keeps the play moving by capsule summations and
subtle hints about the future. "I've married over two-hundred
couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I don't know? M .marries
N .millions of them. The cottage, the go-cart, the
Sunday-afternoon drives in the Ford, the first rheumatism, the
grandchildren, the second rheumatism, the deathbed, the reading
of the will-once in a thousand times it's interesting"(699). Here the
Stage Manager is giving insight about George and Emily's future.
He is hinting about their life and fate to come. "Goin' to be a great
engineer, Joe was. But the war broke out and he died in France. All
that education for nothing" (673). The incidents discussed about
are great events in George, Emily, and Joe's lives. The Stage
Manage emphasizes that the short things in these people's lives
are overlooked. There isn't realization that it is the small parts of
their lives that make a difference.
His role as narrator differs from most narration. The Stage
Manager's narration shows casualness. The casualness connects
the Stage Manager to the audience. "Presently the STAGE
MANAGER, hat on and pipe in mouth he has finished setting
the stage and leaning against the right proscenium pillar
watches the late arrivals in the audience."(671) The informality is
evident since he smokes a pipe, wears a hat, and leans formally
manager is part of the non-acting staff and in complete charge of
the bodily aspects of the production. In Thornton Wilder's Our
Town, the Stage Manager goes well beyond his usual function in a
play and undertakes a large role as a performer. In Our Town the
Stage Manager is a narrator, moderator, philosopher, and an actor.
Through these roles the Stage Manager is able to communicate the
theme of universality in the play.
The main role of the Stage Manager is that of narrator and
moderator. He keeps the play moving by capsule summations and
subtle hints about the future. "I've married over two-hundred
couples in my day. Do I believe in it? I don't know? M .marries
N .millions of them. The cottage, the go-cart, the
Sunday-afternoon drives in the Ford, the first rheumatism, the
grandchildren, the second rheumatism, the deathbed, the reading
of the will-once in a thousand times it's interesting"(699). Here the
Stage Manager is giving insight about George and Emily's future.
He is hinting about their life and fate to come. "Goin' to be a great
engineer, Joe was. But the war broke out and he died in France. All
that education for nothing" (673). The incidents discussed about
are great events in George, Emily, and Joe's lives. The Stage
Manage emphasizes that the short things in these people's lives
are overlooked. There isn't realization that it is the small parts of
their lives that make a difference.
His role as narrator differs from most narration. The Stage
Manager's narration shows casualness. The casualness connects
the Stage Manager to the audience. "Presently the STAGE
MANAGER, hat on and pipe in mouth he has finished setting
the stage and leaning against the right proscenium pillar
watches the late arrivals in the audience."(671) The informality is
evident since he smokes a pipe, wears a hat, and leans formally